Show UPPER P I 1 SUCKER CREEK IS SNOW BOUND special correspondence grants pass ore feb 25 locked in by great walls of snow and with every trail covered and blocked to a depth of 30 to 40 feet with frozen fleece the crew of miners placed on the briggs claim and of other properties in the camp are completely isolated from the world this is the mine at which the rich strike of upper sucker creek was made last summer it is located on the crest of the siskiyou you mountains several thousand feet above sea level when the briggs property was mortgaged by the gold bar mining company of chicago cabins were built and supplies taken in to keep the miners out of want during the long months of winter so that development might go on unceasingly for over two months now the miners of briggs camp have had no tidings of the outside world and it is likely that the camp will remain isolated for two or three months yet while it is possible to get out and down the mountain on skis or snowshoes the trip is one of danger and difficulty and will not likely be attempted unless necessity demands mining men are anxiously awaiting news from the property as the long tunnel has no doubt struck the rich ore body expected on the deeper level below the point on the surface from which the pile of pure metal was unearthed resolutions adopted at a mass meeting of southern oregon miners held in the pass have been liberally signed petitioning the oregon legislature for an appropriation sufficient to build a miners trail connecting josephine and curry counties and giving a direct route for prospectors and miners from josephine coun county to the sea the trail is desired caf particularly ticul arly to give access to the mining districts of the chetco checco and pistol rivers and that section of the coast mountains which is at present inaccessible during the winter season this has been an unusually dry season for southern oregon the rainfall being lighter than for fifteen years past this coupled with the cold nights has cut down the supply to such an extent that only the larger placers have had water for operation and some of these for only half time the dry gulch placers of which there are over a hundred have not turned a shovel and as a consequence the army of gold diggers owning them will be slack on bacon and beans during the coming year the aalice galice consolidated mining company of galice is one of the few placers that has had ample water for a full battery of giants all winter the supply is maintained by its miles of ditch and several huge reservoirs and dams on both forks of galice there are four monitors kept continually at work and will be operated night and day for several months yet A dividend of one half cent per share was declared this month and manager al cousin states that the present outlook of the mine promises several such dividends this season he will have personal supervision of the mine the remainder of the winter the royal group hydraulic mines of galice also has plenty of water deriving its supply from galice two and three giants are operated on grave creek only the columbia steam beer and vindicator mines have had water the vindicator operates the entire year working two monitors under foot gravity pressure A 90 foot alluvial channel supplies the diggings for the vindicator the mine is under the supervision of W H gearhart a pioneer miner of the fifties the final work of installing the big centrifugal tri fugal five stamp pump at the dry diggings dam for the golden drift mining company has been completed this was a herculean task as the pump weighed over pounds the pipe line is now being laid to the diggings and manager M C ament hopes to have three giants in operation within the next few weeks ore running a ton is taken from a recent strike at the lewis clarke mine of canyon creek this mine has attracted much attention not alone from the richness of its product but because of the peculiar formation of the quartz at being a sylvanite with high values in tellurium J monroe layman manager is backed by eastern capital and states that he has plenty of funds at his command to give the proposition a thorough development and adequate equipment he is employing two shifts and depth is being gained rapidly the mine will be ready for a reduction plant this summer hundred dollar ore is yielded by the homestake Home stake mine of evans creek near here this property is owned and under development by eastern oregon men A five stamp mill is under construction and the mine is one of promise the martha mining company the new greenback consolidation is employing 20 men in the development of the martha mine near the greenback and the prope property arty promises to rival its big sister in allaround all around worth the he demand made upon it for power by towns and mines of southern oregon has necessitated the enlargement by the condor water power company of its power plant at gold ray turbines and dynamos will be placed to give an additional 1000 horsepower the dam is capable of supplying horsepower if needed DENNIS H STOVALL |